Assessment of Air Pollution, by the Urban Traffic, in University Campus of Bucharest

Abstract

This study aims to measure traffic-related air pollution of vehicles with internal combustion, the main source of emissions of BTEX, organic compounds and NO x , NO 2 , NO, O 3 , CO, SO 2 , PM 10 and PM 2.5 , inorganic compounds, in three sites of the University campus, surrounded by residential areas. According to the University data, around 8000 students are being exposed daily to the measured level of pollution, in all 3 studied places of campus. A mobile laboratory was used, which continuously measures above mentioned pollutants and meteorological parameters. The diurnal variation of BTEX, in a sunny and rainy day showed two peaks of BTEX concentration in the morning and evening. In the rainy days, the non-polar (hydrophobic) compounds as BTEX are mechanically trained by rain into the ground, where either they enter into the groundwater, or volatilized and re-enter in the air. Particulate matter such as PM 10 and PM 2.5 is, in a large part, carried by the rain into the soil. The polar compounds (hydrophilic, NO x , SO 2 ) dissolves in the rainwater and are absorbed in the soil (increasing soil acidity) and evaporated towards the clouds (leading to acid rain). In our study, BTEX compounds removed by the rain varied between 62% -75%, NO x and SO 2 , 80% and 77% respectively. Particulate matters were washed out up to 68% for PM 10 , and 42% for PM 2.5 . In the sunny days the air pollution with measured concentrations of O 3 (121.66 ± 7.02, 123.56 ± 4.89 µg/m 3

Analysis of the Nicolaus Copernicus Airport Activity in Terms of the Flight Operations Impact on Air Pollution

“…Rainfall contributes to the washing out of pollutants from the atmosphere [43]. The study conducted in [44] shows that the concentrations of each contaminant are higher on sunny days compared to those on rainy days. Particulate matter is absorbed by raindrops and thus carried to the soil.…”

“…These compounds are soluble in rainwater and also enter the soil. This results in soil acidification and formation of acid rain [44].…”

Kano Based Investigation on Preference of Young People in Selecting Campus Buses’ Additional Features

“…The presence of an appropriate public transportation system on a campus is one of the crucial factors in realizing a sustainable campus [1] . This is because the campus is a bustling place to visit due to the high level of activities within it.…”

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of organic pollutants in French soils irrigated with agro-industrial wastewater

“…Several studies focused on the persistence in soils of PAHs by assessing the impact of atmospheric flux and road transportation (Clément et al, 2015;Gaspéri et al, 2018). BTEX are emitted by vehicle combustion in the atmosphere and then carried by rain into soils by leaching the atmosphere (Popescu and Popescu, 2017). Alkylphenol ethoxylates are found in several goods such as detergents, pesticides, inks, and paper leading to octylphenol and nonylphenol by degradation.…”